


Brumous

by orangesiclebirb



Series: Hanahaki Glossary [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Flowers, Gen, Hanahaki Disease, Language of Flowers, its jason what do you expect, rated for some language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 11:12:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17021592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orangesiclebirb/pseuds/orangesiclebirb
Summary: (n.) of grey skies and winter days; filled with heavy clouds or fog; relating to cold, sunless weatherTIm received unexpected comfort from an unexpected party, but Murphy's Law dictates that everything goes wrong eventually.





	Brumous

**Author's Note:**

> Look! I continued it! (Does a funky lil dance)  
> If you haven't read the first part, you should prolly go do that!
> 
> Once again, this is unbetaed, so if you notice a mistake don't feel bad pointing it out!

It takes awhile for Tim to be allowed out of the med bay, and even then he’s not allowed out on patrol.

 

(He’d be annoyed, but even he knows he was pushing it trying to keep up his normal level of activity.)

 

People come and go, and only Alfred seems to understand that he doesn’t want to talk about it.

 

(It’s not  _ fixable _ , even if it wasn’t one of them. Hanahaki doesn’t  _ work  _ that way.)

 

The Manor is as insufferably suffocating as it’s been since…. Well.  _ Since. _

 

(And he’s choking and choking more and more often, because Dick can’t leave well enough alone. The only saving grace is that he seems to be completely and utterly  _ oblivious _ to the way Tim’s fits spike in his presence.)

 

(Tim knows it won’t be long until they figure it out—he’s in the same house as the World’s Greatest Detective, after all.)   
  


He starts plotting his escape.

 

———

 

Tim doesn’t try to patrol once he’s out. He goes to a safehouse of above-average comfort,  _ stays there _ , and takes all necessary precautions to keep visitors away, with very few exceptions.

 

(Most of his exceptions are notably  _ not  _ Bats, except for Cass and Steph—who he could never shut out anyway—and of course, Babs—because who was he kidding, he was good but not  _ that  _ good. Plus, Babs would respect his privacy in this.)

 

Of course, when he  _ does  _ get a visitor, it’s not an exception who manages to get in.

 

(An oversight, really, but he just didn’t expect Jason to drop in.)

 

———

 

He’s just coughed up three full blossoms when Jason walks through the door.

 

“‘Ey, Timbo. Look, I even came in through the door this time, see?” he says, gesturing at the door even as kicks it closed behind him.

“I think it defeats the purpose if you just picked the lock rather than knocking,” Tim responds dryly, scooping up the blossoms and sliding them into his pocket. Jason just gives a half-smirk, and moves to sit next to him on the couch.

 

They sit in silence for a few minutes before Tim opens his mouth.

 

“Who told you?”

“Barbara.” Huh.

“Why’d she—” Tim starts, before turning away to cough up another blossom.

Jason scoops up the blossom before Tim can, holding it up as though inspecting it. “Azaleas, huh? They your secondary or primary?”   
  
Tim’s hands fidget for a second before he laces his fingers together and responds, “...secondary.” Jason hums, and for some reason Tim continues. “Anemones are my primary.”

“Mmm. Mine were Queen Anne’s Lace an’ evening primroses.”

  
  
Tim goes still as stone, before turning to stare.

 

“You...had hanahaki?”

 

Jason sighs, passing Tim back the azalea. “Yeah, s’a bitch, isn’t it?” he chuckles. “I was super fucking smitten over Roy and Kori for a good while ‘fore we actually got together, and I was completely certain the whole time that there was no way it was reciprocal.”

 

“I...didn’t know.”

  
  
Jason snorts, “Yeah, I got better and it wasn’ really important anymore, so I just don’t tell people.”

Tim blinks. “Then...why are you telling me?”

  
  
Jason shoots him an unimpressed look, before rolling his eyes and throwing an arm over Tim’s shoulders, pulling him in against his side, despite the fact that Tim tenses up.

 

“You gotta have someone in your corner, kid. I know what that hellborn disease is like, and like fuck am I just gonna let you wallow in self-inflicted solitude.”   


Tim relaxes, turning his face more into Jason. “...Thanks, Jay.” comes out slightly muffled and hoarse with emotion.

 

———

 

(Jason doesn’t make him talk right away, but he does. It’d be pointless not to, since Jay already knew that his flowers weren’t romantic just by their meaning.)

(Tim thinks that sometimes people forget that Jason’s just as much a detective as the rest of them, but he definitely hasn’t, so he knows Jason is just as likely to figure it out as the others.  _ More  _ likely, in fact, given that he has prior experience.)   
  
(Jason doesn’t try to placate him, or tell him that he’s wrong in the way he thinks about the relationship between him and Dick.)   
  
(If he looks a little angry, well—just ‘cuz Jay would never admit it out  _ loud  _ doesn’t mean that he doesn’t  _ care  _ about Tim.)   
  
(They’re still brothers, after all.)

 

———

 

Later that night, Jason calls his team and lets them know he’s staying in Gotham for a while.

 

(Tim told him that was completely unnecessary, but Jay wholeheartedly disagreed, saying that he knows what it’s like to be alone and  _ literally  _ choking on your feelings.)

 

They put on some random movie from what’s on cable that has extremely unrealistic action scenes, and order pizza for dinner.

 

(“You have...the  _ grossest _ taste in pizza ever, Timbo, and I ate out of dumpsters on occasion as a kid.”   
  
“Shut up, Jason, at least it’s not pineapple.”   
  
They both shudder.)

 

It’s the first good night Tim’s had in a while, even with his periodically coughing up petals and blossoms alike.

 

(Tim falls asleep on the couch, and Jason carries him to bed.)   
  
(He doesn’t go out on patrol that night, but once when he sees how outwardly  _ melancholy  _ Tim looks even asleep, he gets lets himself get  _ angry. _ )

(No one deserves the sort of shit that causes hanahaki, least of all Tim.)

 

———

 

After several weeks, the time away has allowed Tim’s flowers to stabilize again, and eventually he concedes to go to the Cave to have it looked at.

 

(He never went to a specialist for an expectancy estimate, the way most do. He didn’t want to know how long he had.)

 

He surreptitiously picks a time when Dick is scheduled to be in Blüdhaven, and lets Alfred and Bruce know he’ll be there.

 

(Because he’s an idiot, he assures Jay that he doesn’t need to rearrange his schedule to come with him, “just in case” Dick might show up unexpectedly.)

  
  
Of course, Murphy’s Law and such, everything starts going wrong practically as soon as he gets there.

 

———

 

He’s waiting for Alfred to come back with Bruce in the med bay when he hears a loud exclamation of  _ “Tim?!”  _ behind him.

He tenses, turns, and—sure enough—comes face to face with Dick.

 

(Through the panic, Tim’s clearest thought is  _ he wasn’t supposed to be here _ .)

 

“Uh, hey—hey, Dick,” He stutters out, taking a couple steps backwards as Dick advances.

“ _ Timmy  _ I’ve been so  _ worried, _ where have you been!” Dick rushes out, stepping closer despite Tim’s moment away from him.

“I’ve been—away. Jay’s been...staying with me,” Tim says, not meeting Dick’s eyes before turning and coughing violently into the crook of his arm.

“Crap, Timmy, why don’t you—” Dick reaches out towards him, but stops abruptly when Tim flinches away. When Tim reluctantly opens his eyes after his flinch, Dick looks  _ defeated _ .

 

(And it’s  _ Tim  _ that did that,  _ Tim  _ put that look on his face—)

 

“...Timmy?” Tim swallows, and backs up another step. He averts his eyes, biting his lip when he hears Dick’s sharp inhale.

 

(And Dick  _ knows  _ now, there’s no way he  _ doesn’t  _ know, and he’s never going to be able to see Tim the same way again.)

(Tim curses himself and his  _ dumb _ attachment and his  _ dumb  _ disease. This is everything he was trying to avoid.)   
  
  


  
  


  
(...but maybe, Tim thinks, it’s exactly what he  _ deserves _ .)

 

**Author's Note:**

> Jason's Flowers' Meanings!  
> Queen Anne's Lace: haven, sanctuary, complexity  
> Evening Primrose: Inconstancy
> 
> My tumblr is softredrobin (feel free to come say hi!)


End file.
